Resting pulse next to published age bands.

Enter age, sex, and resting heart rate. See which published percentile band that number falls into — a clinic reference range, not a personal grade.

Free tool · resting heart rate by age

Where does this resting pulse sit?

Enter age (20+), sex, and a resting heart rate in beats per minute. The bands are published percentiles from Ostchega et al. (2011), NHSR no. 41 — seated clinic pulse after about four minutes of rest.

A comparison with the published age band shows up here.

What the band is comparing

Resting heart rate is how many times the heart beats per minute while you are at rest. This page places a number next to published percentiles by age and sex from Ostchega and colleagues (National Health Statistics Reports, no. 41, 2011), based on NHANES 1999–2008. The adult tables cover ages 20 and up. Pulse was measured seated after about four minutes of rest. People with a condition or medication affecting pulse were excluded from these tables.

Lower resting pulse sits at lower percentiles in this chart. That describes position in the sample. It is not a fitness score and not medical advice. Wearable overnight or sleeping resting heart rate usually runs lower than a seated clinic reading, so read a watch number as approximate against this table.

Source: Ostchega Y, Porter KS, Hughes J, Dillon CF, Nwankwo T. Resting pulse rate reference data for children, adolescents, and adults: United States, 1999–2008. National Health Statistics Reports, no. 41. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2011. Table 2 (males) and Table 3 (females), resting pulse in beats/min, seated after ~4 min rest; excludes people with a condition or medication affecting pulse.

General information, not medical advice. Talk to a clinician about health decisions.

Reference table on this page

Resting pulse, bpm. Published percentiles from Ostchega et al. 2011, not calculated here.

Men
Age	n	5th	10th	25th	50th	75th	90th	95th
20-39	3445	52	55	61	69	76	84	89
40-59	2559	52	55	61	68	77	85	90
60-79	1147	50	54	60	67	75	84	91
80+	197	51	54	61	68	78	86	94

Women
Age	n	5th	10th	25th	50th	75th	90th	95th
20-39	3061	57	60	66	74	82	89	95
40-59	2409	56	59	64	71	79	86	92
60-79	1163	56	59	64	70	78	86	92
80+	219	56	59	64	71	77	85	93

Common questions

Is a lower resting pulse always better?

In this table, a lower pulse sits at a lower percentile. That is a population position, not a fitness grade. Very low or high values can have many causes. Talk to a clinician about health decisions.

Why does my watch overnight number look lower?

Ostchega and colleagues measured seated clinic pulse after about four minutes of rest. Overnight or sleeping readings from a watch or ring use a different setting and usually run lower. Use the band as context, and track your own trend the same way each day.

Who was left out of these tables?

The published adult tables exclude people with a condition or medication that affects pulse. They are reference ranges for that screened sample, not a full population chart.

Why ask for sex?

NHSR no. 41 publishes separate adult tables for males and females. Sex is required so the page can use the matching published row.

How is this different from HRV by age?

Resting heart rate is average beats per minute. HRV (RMSSD) measures beat-to-beat timing variation. They answer different questions. You can open both calculators and compare each number to its own published source.

Track it daily in Metrya

Metrya keeps resting heart rate next to sleep, training, and the rest of your health record on iPhone.

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Other calculators: HRV by age · Zone 2 heart rate · Fitness age · VO2max by age